Ratan Tata, shy and reticent, an unlikely inheritor to the legendary JRD Tata of the Tata conglomerate, with minimum ego, and maximum commitment has been busy turning the Tata brand to a true blue global reality. A man who had begun with some hiccups, one who had the Chairmanship amidst some controversy, Ratan Tata young and perceived as a 'just-there' head, stunned everybody with some dramatic moves. If you can't be in line, please leave, was his first message to some heads of the Tata group- for nobody, he said, is bigger than the brand. And his first great success was the consolidation and unifying of all those race horses in the Tata stable under one trainer, Tata Sons. JRD could allow the race horses to gallop away to astounding successes and still rein them in, but Ratan saw early the same strategy would not work for him. Thus, with his focus right on globalisation and growth, he has made the Tata expansion unstoppable. With courage and humility. Brought out an Indian car, bought out world businesses. He may still have to deal with a few loose nuts and bolts, but he has the structural prototype of success in place. Facts and figures are there for all to see.
It is a rhetorical question, without any merit. In fact, if it had not been Ratan Tata, perhaps the very existence of Tata Group would have been peril. I dont there is any instance in the Corporate history of developing countries - of the kind of transformation that Ratan Tata has engineered at the Tata Group. Hence, the magnitude of the task must be seen in the light of where Tata Group is today. The only closet comparison can be with that of Jack Welch. But then Jack's efforts could be engineered only in the American context. But, has Jack been in the position that Ratan Tata was, it is very unlikely that he would been even half as successful. To preserve the tradition of Tatas - and carry on the work of JRD is in itself a huge achievement. In fact, many of us worry about after Ratan - what of Tatas.
The Article is very nice covering most of the details. Can u please let us know, how big the Tata Empire is in terms of Rs in billions, including Tata Power, tata Fouriacia n rest remaining.
I do not know about Ratan Tata and his success but as a customer of Tata products is have felt short changed.
I first owned a Tata Sumo which had horrific tyre wear, the fit and finish was bad, it had no head restraints on the seats, and all in all a shoddy vehicle. My Tata Indica also gave me endless problems. The clutch linkage broke in Mahad, a local mechanic welded this in situ ( a dangerous procedure). Although the service centre fixed it for free, they admitted the part was weak and they had designed a stronger one. The AC was feeble. So Tata learnt from my woes and at my cost. I will never buy a Tata vehicle again.
I applied for a Tata Indicomm fixed wireless phone on 8 July and I was promised a connection on 11 July. My cheque cleared the bank on 15th July and yet Tata Indicomm could not "find" my payment. I even visited the Corporate HQ on Wed 19th July where they promised me the phone in six hours. The phone was installed on Sat 23 July a guy just left it with the assistant on the ground floor of my building.
I stayed at the Taj Blue Diamond. They "forgot"to tell me the hotel was under renovation. The whole day was wasted since they were hammering and drilling.
Excellent Story by BS. If Rediff could bring more stories and information on Tata Group would be well appreciated by Readers.
Today 90% of the Business Schools teach case study of Tata companies, and when it comes to ethics - No Indian company or MNCs come in line except Tata Group.
